Doctors used a condom to scoop up a cigarette lighter from inside a man’s stomach after he swallowed it in a drunken bet 30 years ago.
For three decades, the patient experienced no significant health problems, only occasional tummy pains that could be relieved with medication.
It wasn’t until a month ago that he began experiencing persistent abdominal bloating and pain, prompting him to go to the hospital for checks.
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During a gastroscopy, doctors noticed a black rectangular object deep in his stomach.
The man, surnamed Deng, recalled that he swallowed the lighter over 30 years ago for a bet when he was drunk.
The patient, who comes from Chengdu, China, confessed: “Around 1991 or 92, I was drinking with a friend and he dared me to swallow it for a bet and I downed it straight away.”
He added: “I thought it would pass naturally, but I didn’t expect it to just stay there.”
Deng’s wife and son were shocked when they found out, as reported by Need To Know.
Doctors first tried to remove the lighter with forceps, but the metallic surface was too slippery.
A hospital spokesperson said: “The surface of the foreign object was very smooth and the forceps kept slipping away no matter how we tried to grip it.
“There was no way to grasp it so we had to give up.”
Thinking on their feet, doctors decided to use a condom to net the lighter.
Using forceps, they inserted the condom slowly into the patient’s stomach, scooped up the lighter, and carefully removed it through his mouth.
The whole procedure took about 20 minutes.
The removed object was about 7cm long and covered with black, decaying matter.
Doctors pointed out that lighters contain flammable gas and if they leak or react with stomach acid, they could “cause perforation or endanger life”.
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